The South Dakota Saga - (Day 3- Monday)

As I woke up Monday morning, the third day of traveling, I mentioned to Rich that it would be nice to find a good cup of coffee. We had a coffee maker in the room, but since I can only have coffee a few (like two or three) times a month, when I decide to drink coffee, I want what I want. In this case, it was not a cup of Torke hotel coffee that had been sitting for a very long time which I craved. For you video gamers in the reading audience, little did I know I had just embarked on what was to become a side quest in the over all mission called our “vacation.”

Rich and I forced the children to wake up, dress themselves, and eat breakfast. No major breakfast hassles outside of normal family/kid stuff, which means that there were probably twenty of them and I am so numb I find them unblog-worthy. The van was then unlocked, aired out, children strapped in, electronic devices turned on, and the GPS set for destination: Jewel Cave.

On the way to Jewel Cave, we did not pass a single coffee shop, not even a Starbucks. If I was so inclined, I could have started smoking, as there were plenty of smoke shops, but alas, no smoke shops that served coffee. Irked, but unconcerned about the coffee, I settled in to enjoy the incredible mountains and ponderosa pines that South Dakota had to offer.
Rich and I were commenting on the scenery and enjoying the overall view. At one point, we asked the kids to really take a look around them and appreciate the scenery. SEE the scenery. The boys response: “Ooo..more trees, more rocks, more grass!” in perfect three part harmony. Imagine being in a mini van with surround sound sarcasm. Clearly, the kids were in South Dakota for different reasons than Rich and I; scenery was not one of them.

We had reserved our tour for Jewel Cave a week in advance because their tours sellout so fast. The kids thought Rich and I were horribly mean for making them pack long sleeves and pants to take the tour (which is recommended on the website as the average temperature in the cave is a brisk 46 degrees Fahrenheit at all times and located 70 feet below ground). Thankfully, upon arrival they witnessed other mean parents whose children were dressed in a similar fashion. Before leaving, I had been tipped off about something called the Junior Ranger Program. Basically, the kids can ask for a worksheet, look at the exhibits, signage around them, glean tidbits from the tour, fill in the worksheet, and then turn it for a Junior Ranger Badge.*

All four kids completed the sheet and earned their badge. Rich and I helped Brandon with the reading and spelling parts. Rich helped Lauren with all of her sheet, but by the end of our tour she understood why she was touring Jewel Cave, all 723 steps of it. To hear her and Brandon tell it now, they walked each one of those steps; the reality is not quite as glamorous. (By the end of the trip, Rich and I had lost five pounds from all the walking and our biceps looked great from taking turns carrying those two kids.)

After a late lunch and a trip to a candy store, we headed back the hotel for a night of swimming and Papa John’s pizza. Since Papa John’s went out of business in Stevens Point and our hotel pool had a water slide and our backyard does not, this was a huge deal. It was also a great deal of fun. By the end of swimming pool time, Lauren and I were water slide professionals. Brandon made Rich climb the steps to the pool four times but never went down the slide. Jonathon and Noah were going down the slide head first, in chains and making trains. They were even trying to talk Brandon and Lauren into some crazy stunts that were quickly vetoed by me due to concerns of safeness and legality.

When the pool started getting crazy busy at 8:30pm, it was the perfect time for us to head back to the room and begin what we thought was bath/shower time for our chlorinated kids, but was really the beginning of the insidious TV marathon called The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Apparently, the kids had some crazy idea they were on vacation too and they should be able to unwind by watching the Disney X channel. For the Disney Channel X uneducated, I think X stands for even more eXtreme crap playing eXtremely more often. As to the aforementioned show, you are not missing anything; I promise. I endured four days of watching it, so trust me on this one. (I had watched it before, but in very small, small doses, occasionally glancing up from the book I was reading.)

We then played a rousing game of “Who is Sleeping Where Tonight?” No one was voted out of the hotel room, so we closed our eyes and drifted to sleep in anticipation of our next trip to Mount Rushmore.

* Yes, I confess! My husband and I took our kids to South Dakota this summer and made them learn stuff! We forced them to really look and read the exhibits! We made them *hold onto your monitors* do critical thinking activities *gasp*! They are now more informed and more educated then before they left Wisconsin. You caught me red handed!